Day 34 – The Art of Stopping Your Mind

Well, once again I reached a burn-out stage.  I was writing quite a bit and then got extremely busy with work and bango – burn out.  I could not bring myself to the pen and paper again.  I just needed to escape all ‘responsibility’ and ‘relax’ a bit and in addition, I just could not articulate what was going on inside me.

 

So, this is what it is to stop my mind.  This is the real test:  Can I really stop my mind?  Can I find the self-discipline to stop participating in thoughts, feelings, emotions, personalities, characters, definitions, judgments, automated response patterns, and so on that we all live within and as in each and every moment?

 

In fact, this challenge goes out to all the new agers, all the religious, all the ‘skeptics’, all the positive thinkers out there that are smug in their various view points and positions all of whom believe to be doing what is ‘right’, all of whom believe to be pursuing the path to righteousness – can you stop your mind?  Can you see that you are not your mind?  Can you see that all is vanity except that one point of stopping your mind?

 

You see, we can repeat words, read scientific literature, play with ideas, pray to a god, go to gatherings, praise the lord, sing songs, hang crucifixes on walls, profess Jesus, profess, God, Allah, Mohammad, Buddha, think positive - we can do all of these things, but the real test is – can we stop our minds?  Can we exist without our minds?

 

I have explored a lot of various ways of thinking, various religions, various concepts, positive thinking, science, eating right, praying, and I have found that although there may be certain specific benefits to all these things, none of it assists me in taking responsibility for my thoughts, feelings, and emotions.  It is just window dressing.

 

I mean, let me put it this way – I, as a Destonian walking a process to stop my mind, can easily do any request or requirement of any religion, political party, spirituality, or atheist.  Whatever is required of these, I can do.  If I am required to go to church, I can do it.  If I am required to get baptized, I can do it.  If I am required to think positive, I can do it (with practice, lol).  If I am required to be nice to my neighbor, I can do it.  If I am required to speak in tongues, I can fake it (lol).  But, can you stop your mind?  Can a religious person stop his mind?  Can someone who believes in Jesus stop his mind?  Can someone who believes in Darwin stop his mind?  The answer to this is that the only way that one can stop his mind is to put these silly religions and ideas away and start walking ones process. 

 

So, the point is that I can do what any of my religious, atheist, spiritual, Darwinian etc. contenders can do, but none can do what I am in the process of doing unless the lay down their bullshit and start walking the process of stopping the mind.  Isn’t this what Jesus said?  “But first you must give up everything you have and follow me.”

 

So, I am proving to myself how difficult it is to stop my mind.  I don’t want to give up all I have.  I don’t want to give up all my personalities, all my judgments, all my emotions, all my thoughts, all my feelings, all my pleasures and likes so that I can live here one and equal with all as me as life.  I think I want to, but I prove this to not be the case every time that I accept and allow myself to be seduced by my thoughts, feelings, and emotions.  And besides, stopping my mind is way too hard! 

 

So I too understand how ‘tempting’ it can be to go the easy route and become religious or whatever doctrine the mind has to offer.   Maybe that is why Jesus said “it is easier to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”.

 

And as an aside, just because I quote Jesus, does not make me religious.  I just happen to know the bible, from a previous time.  But, I am able to use words of wisdom from whoever speaks them when appropriate.

 

So, I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to make excuses as to why I cannot commit myself to writing every day which is an essential tool to stopping my mind and birthing myself as life.

 

And thus, I commit myself to stopping my thoughts and my resistances, and even writing about them if necessary, to writing.  And thus I commit myself to writing myself out for a minimum of seven years until I am clear and here as life, as the breath of life.

 

Another realization that I have just had in regards to stopping the mind is that stopping the mind is like trying to plug a leaking ship where as soon as one whole gets plugged another bursts open.  I can write about a certain topic and address all the points, and if I am not careful, I (as my mind) will open up a back door that lets the same point back in.  This is self-sabotage as it actually strengthens the mind as it finds ways to ensure its survival no matter what.  So, this must stop too.